Posted on Jun 4, 2014
How many Shellbacks, Golden Dragons, Golden Shellbacks, Blue Noses and Plank Owners do we have here?
78.2K
297
158
19
19
0
It's a Navy/Marine Corps thing. You cross the Equator on a ship you are a Shellback, You cross the Date Line on a ship you are a Golden Dragon. If you cross the Equator at the Date Line you are a Golden Shellback. If you cross the Arctic Circle you are a Blue Nose. If you are the first crew of a ship or unit you are a Plank Owner.
Posted in these groups: 
Tradition
Tradition
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 87
9
9
0
Shellback and (Imperial Order) Golden Dragon....though, I had never heard of golden dragon until this thread, and neither had my husband (who served 10 years). Interestingly enough, we found a list of a bunch of other crossing the line ceremonies on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00°
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
The Order of the Sand Squid for Sailors who have been attached to army units or stationed in the Middle East.
The Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the Equator crosses the prime meridian)
The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the Earth.
The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans)
After reading this, though, I don't understand the difference between the The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon and The Golden Shellback. The explanations sound like they are describing the same thing to me.... anyone have any insight on this? Where am I confused?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00°
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
The Order of the Sand Squid for Sailors who have been attached to army units or stationed in the Middle East.
The Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the Equator crosses the prime meridian)
The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the Earth.
The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans)
After reading this, though, I don't understand the difference between the The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon and The Golden Shellback. The explanations sound like they are describing the same thing to me.... anyone have any insight on this? Where am I confused?
Line-crossing ceremony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the British Merchant Navy, Dutch merchant navy, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, Russian Navy, and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator.[1] The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale,[2] or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to...
(9)
(0)
PO2 Dalejr183 .
I was a AK2 Westpac 2000 VF-31 we crossed the equator were it hits the international dateline and had the Golden Shellback ceremony aboard CVN-72 I proudly participated
(0)
(0)
(0)
(0)
6
6
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Outstanding Senior. Some very unique ceremonies and very symbolic in a weird way.
(1)
(0)
5
5
0
I became a Golden Shellback on the USS Bonhomme Richard on the way to Afghanistan, and a regular Shellback on the USS Boxer on the way to Iraq.
(5)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google